Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Love's Comments and Sparkles

Day Two of this fabulous Trifecta! Make sure to stop by Elana Johnson, Alex Cavanaugh blogs for their point of views!!! (Alex will post tomorrow)

Today's topic...

Comments, and how to get them.

Whether you are new to the blogging world, or have been around for quite sometime, we all love comments.

You know that special time of day, you open up your inbox, ready for a Squee worthy moment, the sun radiating off the page, it hurts your eyes, you shy away (for just a moment) ready to celebrate the number of comments you received for that day, and when you finally adjust your eyes you see that trusty, oh.so.special number...

ZERO.

YOU.HAVE.NO.COMMENTS

Wait, what?? What did I do wrong? Am I not good enough? Do they not like me? Did my mom forget to make her special brownies again?

Okay, okay, so this isn't ALL of you, some of you get several comments, some of you are perfectly happy with the number you receive, but just incase you're a little low for the liking I'll give you the best tips I know on how to snag those extra few comments.

1. Active Blogging - Structure is important in the blogging world. Your followers need to know when you'll stop by. If you only blog M-W-F then you want to let your followers know. Create a button that says how often you blog. I'm an every day (M-F) blogger (for those who are unsure!)
2. Fun & Interesting (with questions) - People don't always know what to say so it's easier to keep the conversation light but also leave a question so they have something to comment on. Unless you are a fan of "That's a great post" then keep doing what you're doing.
4. Comment - If you don't comment on their's, they won't visit. Make sure they are meaningful and heartfelt, the shorter and more universal, the less likely they'll believe you actually read their blog post.
5. Be Nice - both on your blog and on those you take time to comment. If you're rude no one will want to visit. Even while critiquing one's work, be respectful.
6. A little extra - For me personally I like when I can have people comment on my blog and in return I can send them a response back via email, to ensure they got it. Not everyone who comments on my blog has an email attached. That is just a little extra of mine, it's a nicer way to connect with someone and in the end they could become your follower. Something to think about it. I know it helps me know who to follow!

PS, after you've been blogging for awhile you'll realize the more comments you have the more overwhelmed you feel. Not everyday can I reach all of those who comment on my blog, but they're the first place I go to, it's important that they know I was there, I read and I enjoyed! I do my best not to feel guilty, some days it's just to big to conquer.

And there are a few of you who take a different approach, for instance Candyland has her blog drugged (no, seriously) there is something in her blog that makes you drawn to it. I personally prefer a more legal approach, I leave sparkle dust on all my comments and it brings you back to me :) Muahahaha!!!

Let's hope the next time you see your inbox it's filled with more love!!!

hhahahha....I love those posts..You truly make each morning so fun for me:)...I agree with all the tips...Its so important that you comment on other blogs and that you are nice.....I really like the email part...It makes it more personal:)Hugs and kisses,sweetieHave a sunny Tuesday....its cold here today...grrr

LOL. Sparkle dust me please! Jen, jen, jen, meaningful and heartfelt sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day! Sometimes I just want them to know that, yes, I was there, I read, I liked, and I think that's better than nothing, right?

I think everyone needs to understand too, that a lot of us have a LOT on our plates, and just because we don't comment on one hundred blogs a day, doesn't mean we aren't interested. Don't you agree? I think you should mention something like that tomorrow. Whatcha reckon?

Ooh, Jen. This sparkle dust works like..magic :PI always say, Give Back the Love, so I make sure I visit everyone who visits me, before I get on to any other thing.This Trifecta's very cool. Thanks for sharing <333!

I read candyland this morning- I'm fully inclined to believe that fairies took her sock :) See so its a running theme- The fairies stole her sock and left sparkle dust for you on there way somewhere else...I'm on their trail don't worry. :) Thanks for the pointers Jen.

And I quite agree, being nice to everyone is a good rule. My little one came home from his first day at school - and he said they were given one rule. I asked, "whats that dear?" His reply "Rule number one is - Be nice to everyone."I asked what rule number two was. He said. "There is no rule number two."He's quite an old man for a 4year old.

Jen you are just an awesome blogger :) One of my favorite things about your blog is that it's a quick, fun read where I feel like I have a connection with you, along with those seven hundred other people over there ;) But you're right about the commenting tips, very good ones. :):)

You and Elana do have similar posts. Although Elana doesn't accuse Candyland of drugging her readers!

It's true, we need to comment on other people's blogs to receive comments back on our blog.

I always put comment responses on my blog instead of e-mail because I like the conversation aspect of it, but I figure most people won't come back. I've considered doing it on my blog and e-mail, but I don't have that kind of time!

(((hugs))) you're awesome! Boiled right down to it, it just takes some consitancy (for which I can't spell today) effort and interaction...all things you have perfected. Sneezing a bit from the sparkly dust. It just blows off your page ;) Fantastic Trifecta!

Thanks for the post! You and Elana both said to have my email linked to Blogger so people whose blogs I comment on can email me back. I guess I'd better do that! (And get on emailing people back who comment on my blog.)

Jen, thanks for the post. Maybe, I can get more comments/followers. I think I'm going to start trying to conclude posts w/ a ?

But what do you do when you don't know how often you can blog? How do you get traffic when even you don't know your schedule? Should the blog come before the manuscript? (I felt the manuscript was more important, so I've been editing more and blogging less).

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a nice comment. I appreciate the support as I take on this writing adventure seriusly. ;) I appreciate your tips here. I will do as much as I can as long as I am still actively working on my WIPs. ;) Have a great week!! Janelle

I think the biggest key is the post itself. I follow several bloggers that don’t follow me but their content is fantastic I go there anyway – and comment. I wish I could break down the analyze what makes them so appealing.

great sparkly post as usual jen, I havent decided when i will definatly post on a regular frequent basis ie always posting on the same day because i post when i feel that i have something to share. and that may not be every day, but it may not always be on just a wedensday? perhaps i need to work on that! Thank you for being your sparkly and brownie giveing self :)

I'm always surprised when I get comments. It's my "you like me, you really like me" moment each time I open the inbox and see that someone has read what I wrote and felt compelled to say something back to me. Even after all these years, I'm still shocked when someone says they like my writing!

Jen, First, I thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a cheerful, comment. Even if the BBQ is over, it's never too late to meet a new friend!

I read your post with much interest. I'm fairly new to blogging and I'm just beginning to wonder how you keep up and give personal attention to comments when they begin to overwhelm you. I always feel a personal attachment to followers and they seem like friends that I don't want to disappoint.

Your post was helpful and thank you.Your new followerManzanitaWanna buy a duck

I think I need to add some sparkle dst to my blog, cos some days I don't hear a peep outta anyone. Sometimes I think the zippy title and the length of the blog also influence who will take time to read it.

This is a great series, especially since I heart all three of you (well except Alex, I enjoy his blog in a much more manly way). This is also a great question/topic. You're one of the best examples out there Jen of how to build a follow through being genuine and true to yourself.

I've written many comments on this topic today so I'll just say for me it boils down to one thing: You get out of it what you put into it.

These are great tips that when combined should guarentee not just comments, but quality comments. Once I get readers to my site I hope that my content has been engaging enough to get them involved and then I ask questions that will encourage them to voice their thoughts on the matter. It has been a very long time since I have had a blog post that has had zero comments.

Jen!!!! You are truly the comment queen!!!! You are always so genuine with your responses on everyones blogs, naturally it makes us want to visit you. I am always siked when I see a comment from you or any of my readers!!!! Great advice. Love the sparkles hahaha.

Thanks for the advice! I was out of the blogging world for the summer and I felt so out of the loop once I got back into the swing of things here. I feel like I'm only just now getting things set up again where I can figure out times to go visit other blogs and such.

I agree (and now I'm worried that you'll think I didn't read your whole post since I'm writing a generic response ... oh no! lol) But I definitely like to email responses back to people and I get sad when they don't have it set up :(

The biggest thing I think though is to put up good content. If you just blog daily about how you wrote 500 words last night (and you post that everyday) then I'll stop paying attention. If you give your readers something that they find worthwhile, then they're more likely to comment.

Oh, this is so true. I have experienced the first one. I blogged everyday, when I first started. I had many followers in no time. Now, that I blog once a week or so(due to school, and work:(), I have a new follower like every 3 weeks. hahaThank you so much for the wonderful comments.All my love.

My commenting has taken a dramatic drop over the past several weeks as my workload increased and revisions to my WIP peaked. I still manage to read all my favorite blogs, just don't have the time to leave a worthy comment. I'm still here though. :)

hi miss jen! i dare you to try to answer all the comments you got today. ha ha. you see how much people love what you say. hmm maybe its just that neat sparkle dust. ha ha. could you send me just a little bag please. for me i mostly post one time a week but i do comments mostly every day for as many friends i could get to. i got some like you that real special to me and got real cool blogs. i try to visit new ones when i got more time. i love blogging! ...smiles from lenny

I agree-it's just good etiquette to return/comment. It's also overwhelming for people with tons of followers/commenters to reach every single one every single day. I think some people rotate their comments, which is fine. No more followers than I have, it usually takes me two hours to read, comment, and reply. Now that I'm back in school, in addition to the day job, trying to get a little something written, and housework...I check my dashboard once when I come home, and that's it. If I get everything done, I'll go back and catch the late posters.

Thank you so much for the sweet comment, Jen! I'm glad that you like my voice, even when I am feeling a little blue. Yes, the closet is tight. Not quite Dursley-worthy, but I'm happy for anything that compares me to Harry Potter.

I love your blog. Your advice is great, and your cheerfulness is making me feel quite encouraged! Will definitely be following you, and looking forward to more Trifecta updates :)

I'm also about to make the rounds at the BBQ. I think I was a little more than fashionably late, but I'm just gonna blame Manhattan for that . . .

Yes! I think the personal touch is the ticket ~ at least for me. I really love it when my commenters have an email attached to their profile so I can extend my hand of greeting in a more personal way. And sometimes I SO want to have a conversation with a commenter and it makes me sad, sad to see that "noreply" thing. Darnitall!

Don't you just hate all that 'great post' and 'thanks for stopping by' crud. I think that if you don't have anything interesting to say, don't say anything at all. Oh no! I better think of something interesting. Ummm... your blog background makes me want to get some stencils...real bad.

Nice post. Very informative. I have been blogging for 2 months now, I just decided recently that I will be serious with blogging. And sometimes it's irritating and frustrating but receiving comments from fellow bloggers do make me smile. :) I am a follower! :)